Fatalism

Fatalism is the belief in the fates; that everything is predefined for us by the fates, that nothing is within our control therefore we shouldn’t worry about it. The stoics, of course, were more logical than this and didn’t surrender completely to fate. They still felt that we are put here for a reason and it’s our duty to fulfil that, and that our actions have consequences. Though we don’t control fate we can, and should exercise our ability to better society.

My view of fatalism in the context of modern stoicism is simply, I can’t control the past or the present (literally this exact moment which is already happening), but I can and have a duty to shape the future. This has helped me maintain a professional drive and deal with annoyances, things that used to evoke my bad temper.

I see fatalism and the concept of dichotomy of control as intertwined and these to be the most useful stoic strategies I use on a daily basis.